ACB searched former minister’s house, arrested son
Vijayawada: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) searched the house of former Andhra Pradesh minister and YSR Congress Party leader Jogi Ramesh and arrested his son Jogi Rajiv in the AgriGold land scam case on Tuesday.
Fifteen officials of the anti-corruption agency began searching Jogi Ramesh’s house at Ibrahimpatnam in NTR district at around 5 am. Jogi Rajiv is accused number one in the FIR filed by the CID in the AgriGold land case.
Jogi Ramesh’s uncle Jogi Venkateswara Rao has also been made an accused in the case. The FIR also names some other accused. They allegedly purchased lands seized by the CID in the Agri Gold scam at Ambapuram village in Vijayawada rural mandal in NTR district and sold them to others.
The CID had registered the FIR on August 2 under Sections 420, 409, 467, 471, 120 (B) read with Section 34 IPC of the Indian Penal Code. According to the FIR, the crime took place before June 19, 2024, when the YSR Congress Party was in power. The case was registered based on the investigation report of CID DSP Abdul Kareem.
Jogi Ramesh told media persons that his son is innocent. “My son studied in the US and worked in Deloitte. He has not done anything wrong,” the YSRCP leader said. Ramesh said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son and minister Nara Lokesh were carrying out political vendetta against him, but asked why his innocent son was being targeted.
Refuting the allegations, he asked, “Can anyone buy land seized by the CID.” The former minister said that if he or his family members have done anything wrong in Agri Gold lands, they are ready to be hanged publicly in Vijayawada.
The CID had seized the land as part of the process of seizing the assets of AgriGold. AgriGold is a company that duped over 11 lakh depositors in an investment scheme. A financial fraud of Rs 6,380 crore by AgriGold came to light in 2014-15. The CID and the Enforcement Directorate seized assets worth Rs 4,141 crore in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
